Arranged Meetings
by dwango
Summary: It’s sakura’s 13th birthday, and just when everything seems perfect another curve ball is thrown at her, but this time, it's Itachi. itasakusasu
1. Default Chapter

Arranged Meetings

Heya! I was over at my friends house (who might be moving away sniff, sniff) and I got this okay idea come to me, okay it didn't come to me, it was from a movie I was watching and I thought that it might be a good idea, so here is my attempt.

Summary: It's Sakura's 13th birthday, everything seems special; her sensei actually showing up early, Sasuke giving her a compliment, and a big party down at the academy. But little does she know of the surprise coming up. Sasu/Saku/Itachi

Warning: before I start this story I just want to tell you that the characters in some parts will be out of character

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

I'm sorry I'm going to be lazy and not add inner Sakura into this fanfic; it's just a little too hard for me sometimes - sorry.

Thanks to my editor YufVin-Valentine for re-editing this for me -

**8 years ago **

Two figures could be seen discussing at a small table in a nameless café in Konoha.

"I agree, it is a splendid idea, but which one?"

"It doesn't matter." the individual paused and added, "We'll make it the older one."

"Perfect, but I don't think I'll tell her just yet."

"Why not?"

"Well, I think she's a bit young, so I'll wait 'til she's mature enough."

"Hn. Good idea, then she'll know not to go around telling everyone. However, I think I'll tell mine. I am afraid if something were to happen, they would never know."

"Alright. Then I guess I'll be going."

"Ja ne."

With that, one of the figure got up paying the waitress some money and left the cafe.

**Present time**

"WHERE'S KAKA-SENSEI!" Sakura shouted while looking around for their tardy sensei, even though she knew much, much later, he would just appear out of nowhere and tell them a lame excuse. Still, it was their daily routine.

POOF

"Yo!" Kakashi greeted standing on the bridge, most would think it was a miracle because he was only 15 minutes late.

"Alright, who are you and what have you done with Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto yelled pointing a finger at Kakashi while Sakura and Sasuke sweat-dropped.

"Well it's one of my student's birthday, so I decided to stay on the path of life and come here as soon as possible." the silver haired jounin's visible eye crinkled giving off the impression that he was grinning. This got Naruto started grumbling about birthdays and other things until they reached the training ground.

Ever since Sakura had tied with Ino in the Chuunin exam, she took it upon herself to be serious when training instead of staring at Sasuke. She actually became a decent fighter. However, she hardly knew any jutsu, and was still not that great at taijutsu, but somewhat made up for it by excelling in genjutsu.

They started off with basic throwing and then moved on to a competition of chakra control. Sakura's throwing had gotten a lot better, she had hit the targets very close to the centre, and she had even beaten Naruto in some of the drills they did. They all went to three big trees after they had a little break, and did other stuff that isn't very significant to this story.

They had to climb up to the top of the tree with no running as help at the start, no jumping and without the use of their hands. Using only their feet to climb by walking up, in addition, they had to dodge random kunais and other things being thrown at them.

Sakura had found it the easiest to climb up the tree, with no running as a start to climbing, etc. She climbed all the way to the top and stood there waiting for Naruto and Sasuke to catch up.

"Puff, puff, oh man! I really need to work on my chakra control." Naruto gasped for air while Sasuke just stared at him and said

"Dobe."

"Why you! Sasuke-teme, you want to fight!" Naruto shaked his fist.

"Ya." Sasuke replied but he didn't have a chance to fight him as Kakashi's voice was heard from a tree across from them,

"There will be no fighting until this drill is over."

Naruto and Sasuke started to grumble, but they did their drill anyway.

After the drill, Sakura was the only one left with chakra, and still dodging, so she was declared the winner. This really upset Sasuke, 'cause he was beaten by a girl, but not just any girl. It was Sakura, he was beaten by Sakura. He knew that he had long since surpassed her, in fact, to him he was never below her, she was only supposed to be better at one thing than him and that was brains, but now this. What's going to be next?

Sasuke walked over to Sakura and told her something, though he didn't even bother to stop and turn around to face her.

"Good job Sakura." he complimented

The day continued on and soon, Sakura was told to head straight home after training.

"Ja matta ne Sasuke-kun, Kaka-sensei, Naruto." Sakura said with her usual smile and disappeared off into the distance.

Sasuke wondered why she left straight away, not that he cared. Ever since he came back from Orochimaru, he had been pushing his training to the extreme. He walked off into the distance to his "secret" training spot where no one would be there to disturb him.

"Tadaima." Sakura said as she walked into her house, switching her ninja shoes with some tradition slippers, she walked into her kitchen to see her mom and father there with a cake, banner, streamers, etc.

"Okaeri-nasai." Sakura's mom said to her and let her sit down. Sakura's dad gave her a piece of cake (note that this is a small party because Sakura is going to a bigger one down at the academy later on with all her friends). After Sakura was done her with cake, her mom's face changed from a happy one to a serious one.

"Nani?" Sakura asked her mom seeing the change of expression. Sakura's dad let out a sigh and put down his tea.

"Sakura there is something we need to tell you."

TBC

So yeah, what do you think of this new story, summary's not that great, but I've never really been good at summary's, so r & r if you find this story -

Basic stuff

Nani -What

Tadaima - I'm home

Okaeri-nasai - Welcome home


	2. chapter II

Arranged Meetings

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

Thanks to all those who reviewed

Chapter 2

Thanks again to my editor YufVin-Valentine for re-editing this for me

"Sakura, there is something we need to tell you." her dad said. Sakura looked at her parents, it had to be important, or else her father wouldn't have folded up the newspaper and looked at her.

"Well you see, 8 years ago I had a meeting with someone. That person was the head of the Uchiha clan to be precise. We organized something, but once the clan was wiped out, we had to go on with it." he stopped to take a breath and then looked at Sakura, whose curiosity was growing.

"I don't really know how to tell you this but, we had arranged your marriage for you." Sakura looked half shocked and half surprised, did her father organized her to marry Sasuke-kun? She was about to go into a fantasy of how romantic it was, but her father went on.

"When we where younger, we both said if either of us had a son or daughter, we would get them married. Later on, they had a son and we had you." Sakura almost leaped out of her chair yelling for joy, but yet again her father went on.

"You are to marry Uchiha-" but before he could go on Sakura jumped out of her chair and thought just wait 'til she can rub it into Ino-pig's face! She gets to marry Sasuke!

"Uchiha Itachi." he said picking up from where he was interrupted and Sakura fell silent. She was to marry Sasuke's evil brother, a murderer, someone that was more cold-hearted then Sasuke himself. What was she going to do? Her dreams were all shattered at that moment. He could kill her in an instant if he wanted to and she was to marry him. Sakura fell backwards from shock. She could tell no one about this.

NO ONE.

Later on that day, Sakura went to her party at the academy. She was extremely quiet for once. She tried as hard as she could to enjoy herself and forget what happened, but thoughts bombarded her mind. What if he knew and was looking for her to kill her? She was certain that he probably wouldn't even dream of marrying her. Ino walked over to Sakura.

"Big-forehead girl, what's on your mind? You look out of it. On another fantasy with MY Sasuke-kun that you know won't happen?" Ino said to her. She expected some rude comment to be shot back and they would fight over Sasuke again. To her surprise, that rude comment didn't come, instead it was replaced by a simple answer.

"No Ino-pig, I'm not thinking about Sasuke at all." Ino noticed how Sakura didn't add the '-kun' at the end. In fact, almost everyone noticed it. Sasuke thought that Sakura had finally clicked and realized she was weak or something and needed to train, or she didn't like him anymore, but what he didn't realize was the true reason why she was acting strange.

Naruto came over to Sakura "HAPPY BIRTHDAY SAKURA-CHAN!" he yelled and gave her a big present. Sakura snapped out of thought from the sound of Naruto's voice yelling in her ear, she smiled and thanked him. Soon almost everyone was giving their presents to her. The party went by fast, and Sakura almost completely forgot about the thing with Itachi until she saw Sasuke. She didn't quite remember what Itachi looked like for she never really saw him in person, but she knew that he had to look like Sasuke because when she saw Sasuke, it reminded her of 'him'.

After the party was over, Sakura went home with a lot on her mind. Oh why did her parents have to tell her this before the party? Couldn't they have been kind and told her after?

Hinata was walking home with Naruto, Ino, Shikamaru, and others. They where discussing about Sakura's behaviour during the party.

"Something big has to be on Sakura-chan's mind, because I've never seen her so deep in thoughts." Naruto thought out loud with his hands behind his head.

"Yeah, something big. Everyone heard big-forehead girl called Sasuke-kun, just Sasuke." Ino said.

Hinata sort of just walked with them nodded and at the same time, blushing and fidgeting with her fingers because she was walking beside Naruto.

"What a big waste of time! Akamaru and I could have been running around." Kiba said obnoxiously and Akamaru barked, seconding that opinion.

"That was so troublesome." Shikamaru said.

"You find everything troublesome though." Ino added. The conversation went on like that until most of them had split up to different directions to go home.

"So how was your party Sakura?" her mom asked as Sakura came into the house and went straight to her room. She didn't even bother to answer. Her mom looked at her dad and they both thought the same thing, the news must still be bugging her.

Sakura walked up the stairs and opened her door then closed it after entering. She looked up from the ground to see someone standing by her window with their back to her. It was…

TBC

Well I hope you enjoyed this chapter, I'll try to keep them all updated as much as possible don't forget to r & r thanks


	3. chapter III

Arranged Meetings

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

Thanks too all those who reviewed, I didn't expect this story to go far -

Chapter 3

Sakura walked up the stairs and opened her door then closed it after entering. She looked up from the ground to see someone standing by her window with their back to her. It was…

"Sasuke-kun what are you doing here?" she asked looking at him.

"NANI? YOUR NOT SASUKE-KUN!" she started yelling, but before she could go on, he was suddenly right there in front of her.

"Sleep." he said, and she fell to the ground asleep.

**Downstairs**

"Hm, he's here." said her dad.

"I hope she comes back okay," her mother added.

**The next day on the bridge**

"HEY WHERE'S MY SAKURA-CHAN!" Naruto yelled, thinking to himself, she's already late by 1 ½ hours. At this rate Kakashi-sensei will arrive before her.

Sasuke just stared at Naruto. Maybe Sakura was being sensible and figured out that she was weak and left the team, but then again, she wasn't that smart though. However, part of him was a bit worried. He didn't know why. He had turned her down all the time and had always told her to go away, but now that she did...

Out of the blue Kakashi appeared.

"Yo!" he greeted, squatting on the bridge railing. He looked around to find no Sakura and he scratched his covered chin.

"Hm, it appears that we're missing someone. Where's Sakura?" Kakashi looked over them once again to make sure he didn't accidentally miss her.

"Ano sa, ano sa, Kaka-sensei. Maybe she slept in or something." Naruto said.

"Hn. You're right. Sasuke, could you go see if she's there?" he asked.

"Me?" Sasuke asked.

"Ya." Kakashi said, "and while you're doing that, Naruto will look at all her favourite spots."

"How do you know that I know all her favourite spots?" Naruto asked him curiously.

"I've seen you once or twice stalking Sakura, Naruto. I'm not blind." he said with a hidden smirk.

Naruto went a little red before denying it, but after that, they all left to go find her- well, the students did, Kakashi just pulled out his Icha Icha Paradise and disappeared to go to a better spot to read it.

**Sasuke's POV**

I went to her door and knocked on it a couple times. After no answer, I decided to look in her window to see if she was still asleep. (Don't ask me how he knows where Sakura's room is).

He looked in to find a lamp knocked over, and other stuff you might see that would tell there was a little struggle.

He looked around in awe.

_Why would someone try to kidnap Sakura? _

_It was only Sakura after all, or was it only Sakura? _

He instantly dismissed that thought and went to go tell Naruto and Kakashi.

After finding both Naruto and Kakashi, he told them about what he saw, and they immediately went to go investigate.

After that was done and they concluded what Sasuke said was true, they went to the Hokage's office and told her what happened.

**Normal POV**

Sakura looked around her the last thing she remembered was someone that looked oddly like Sasuke was in her room and then she passed out.

She was in the middle of a forest, all alone. She reached for a kunai from the holster, but she didn't have it though she remembered still wearing it when she walked into her room.

She looked down herself to make sure she didn't have any injuries; she didn't, but she did notice that she was really dirty. She concentrated and very far off into the distance she heard water, she decided that it would be best for her to go and take a bath, so she got up and headed off.

The area she was in was a really quiet beautiful area- a forest with flowers everywhere. It was around 6 o'clock, she could tell from where the sun was, because it was always around that height when she was on the bridge waiting for Kakashi-sensei.

Then it hit her, what would happen when she didn't show up for training? She was already weak enough as it was. And then there's her mom and dad, they would probably be worried silly.

She had no clue what-so-ever on where she was, or even what direction to go in, but she decided that she might as well go to take a bath first, it had been a really long time since she was this filthy.

She reached the river about 45 minutes later, she looked around quickly to make sure no one was watching, but she thought that it would also be smart to see if she could sense anyone's chakra near by.

She focused her mind and sensed one, it was pretty close by, and it was really strong, for some reason it really reminded her of Sasuke's.

She decided that right now wasn't the smartest idea to go for a bath, so she was about to head back when it hit her.

"ITACHI!" her eyes went really wide and then in the area where the chakra was, a person appeared.

TBC

Ya ya I know a very dull boring chapter, ya but I thought that I better update, because an update is better then no update, am I right?

Well even though it's boring make sure to review, cause I really love getting reviews -


	4. chapter IV

Arranged Meetings

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

Thanks to all those who reviewed, in my personal opinion I didn't expect this fanfic to be as popular as it is being --;;

Chapter 4

**After searching for sakura**

**7:30 am**

**Hokage's office**

"So your saying that Sakura's was kidnapped?" the Hokage asked after hearing their story.

"Hai." Kakashi said

"Well from all that we know, her parents didn't leave the house once last night, and what your saying is that it looked like she struggled a bit, which should've caused her parents to notice and come to report it to me." the Hokage concluded, it just didn't make sense.

"It could have happened this morning," Naruto said. Sakura's parents always left early in the morning to go do their jobs,

"No." Sasuke said "Her scent in the room wasn't very fresh."

"Hm." the Hokage said rubbing her chin, this was very interesting.

"Looks like we're going to have to confront her parents, until then, Kakashi you should take your group and go do some training, I will send someone for her parents." Tsunade said very sternly, although she was sort of happy because that means she got a break from doing all that stupid paper work.

Kakashi nodded and then they left.

"Poor Sakura-chan." Naruto said, instantly losing that hyper personality of his.

**Modern day Konoha**

**7:45 am**

**Konoha forest**

"ITACHI!" her eyes went really wide and then in the area where the chakra was, a person appeared.

He was chuckling to himself as he walked out. It was a teenager, he looked around the age of 17. He was wearing a black cloak with red clouds on it that covered from his feet to his mouth and a Konoha forehead protector tied around his head. He had sharingan eyes and his hair was black and put into a ponytail.

"Very good Sakura." he said, no one could mistake her for someone else because of her bubblegum pink hair and her emerald eyes.

Sakura knew very well that after she had heard the news, he would come looking for her, probably to kill her. What surprised her most was the fact that she was still alive, he could of easily killed her back there when she was pretty much defenceless and wasn't expecting anything.

"Why did you keep my alive?" Sakura said, she was a bit surprised to see that her voice wasn't shaky like it should have been, after all she was talking to the one and only Uchiha Itachi, the one that killed his entire clan besides Sasuke, Sasuke's evil brother.

He stood there for a while before deciding that he didn't want to answer it. He, himself didn't even know why he kept her alive, he just did.

Sakura was about to ask the question again until he was face to face with her. She decided that it would be best if she pulled out a kunai for protection, but before her hand could reach the pocket he said "Sleep." again and she fell to the ground asleep.

He thought to himself that travelling would be a lot easier if he just put her to sleep and carried her.

**Konoha**

**8:30 am**

**Training grounds**

Almost everyone was finding it a bit difficult to train because the pink haired Genin wasn't there. She usually made things a bit difficult by asking all these questions, which was always answered by Sasuke, causing Naruto to try to show off, but she wasn't there so almost everything was silent.

Kakashi cleared his throat signalling for them to finish up and then come over to where he was.

"I can tell that neither of you are focused, so to continue on training would be pointless. Lets say we just go to Ichiraku, and have something to eat." he said

They always trained for at least 2 more hours but this time they thought it was just best if they did that.

It was the sign of apocalypse, Naruto wasn't really in the mood for ramen; he had a hard time finishing that bowl to be specific.

Sasuke just stared down at the ramen bowl and looked at his reflection, then all of a sudden a picture of the pink haired ninja appeared, he quickly splashed it out.

Why was he thinking of her? It was odd because he always seemed to be there to save her from danger but this time, she was gone and there was nothing he could do. It had to be a pretty strong ninja, because even Sakura could easily defeat a robber or someone with no ninja experience.

Then an idea hit him. "Kakashi, I'm not hungry, I just ate breakfast." he said then pushing his bowl towards Naruto who he expected to be asking Kakashi for another bowl but he noticed that he was only halfway through his first and it had already been 20 minutes.

Kakashi nodded, he really knew why he wasn't hungry, because he had told them not to eat breakfast yesterday, for there training would be gruelling, but because of the happenings they didn't do that training, successfully.

Sasuke walked away pretending to go back to the training grounds as if to do real training but as soon as he was out of view he quickly turned and went into the direction of Sakura's house.

Upon arrival at the house he checked to make sure that her parents weren't home then he snuck into her window and landed on the floor. He closed his eyes and started checking all the chakra that was in the room since yesterday.

He stopped when he sensed one from last night, it couldn't place it until he remembered his brother

"ITACHI!" he said eyes wide.

_What did he want with Sakura? _

_Was it to lure me out? _

Well if it was it was going to work. He went off and followed the trail of chakra until it lead him to the Konoha gates, he decided it be best if he told someone where he was going and then in the morning he would depart ALONE to go find Sakura.

TBC

So what do you think? Well I think that it's a bit better then last chapter, sorry about the lack of ita/saku, will be more next chapter promise, although the fair is coming up and then school starts of the 7th so it might take me even longer to update sorry( well r & r -


	5. chapter V

Arranged Meetings

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

Thanks for the reviews keep them coming - sorry for the late update, but school has started sigh and it likes to take up a lot of my time, so the updates will probably get slower

Chapter 5

In the morning he would depart ALONE to go find Sakura.

He returned to his apartment and collected a bunch of stuff; extra kunais, some scrolls, maps, clothing, etc.

Itachi was going to pay dearly for talking 'his' Sakura away.

**The day after**

**8:15 am**

**Konoha forest**

Itachi was going at a pretty slow pace, he really didn't want to attract attention. Also, he knew that someone might come after her, after all, not many people could possibly resist the cherry blossom girl with her pink hair and emerald eyes.

He shook his head quickly to get rid of the thoughts and speed up a bit until he found a good location to rest. He wasn't really tired, but he was rather thirsty for some odd reason, so he put her down near a river and went over to its edge.

Sakura, being someone that's good at dealing with genjutsu, had done a quick counter to Itachi's attack, but because of the strength that was put behind the attack, it knocked her unconscious for 5 minutes. Ever since then, she had be pretending to be asleep, while Itachi carried her away, she was trying really hard not to blush, for she really had never been carried bridal style by a guy that wasn't ugly.

She thought now was a better time then ever to get up and creep away, because this was Uchiha Itachi were talking about, and she really wasn't in the mood to die right now.

She slowly lifted herself up, making sure not to catch the attention of a drinking Itachi.

"Kage- " but before she could finish the technique Itachi was in front of her, and grabbed her hand so she couldn't do more seals.

"How long have you been awake?" he asked, staring down at her with those piercing sharingan eyes.

"Uh, eh, a little while." she said making it seem as if she wasn't awake for the 40 minutes of travelling.

He stared at her for one last time before tying her up so she wouldn't try it again. After all, if she had done it twice, what would stop her from trying to escape again.

"Ne Itachi? I'm thirsty can I go over to the water?" she said, it would be kind of funny if she just started wurpling over to the river to get a drink.

"Hn." he said while making a slight nod with his head, but it wasn't really the noticeable.

So Sakura sort of rolled her way there so she could bend over and get a drink of water. Unfortunately she rolled just a bit to far, and went splashing down into the water and started being carried away by the current.

"HELP, SOME BODY HELP ME!" she screamed because I'm not sure if you have every tried swimming while being tied up, but it's seems pretty hard.

Itachi jumped up quickly and chased her down to where the waterfall just happened to be.

_Did she do that on purpose? _

_Does she really want to die that much?_

He wondered to himself as he jumped onto a rock in the middle of the river, and grabbed her as she went whizzing by, unfortunately he lost his footing and went into the water also.

SPLASH!

As he fell in he made sure he still was holding onto one of the ropes tied around Sakura.

Sigh

He was lucky enough to grab onto a branch that was hanging out by the waterfall, so they wouldn't fall. He noticed that the ropes that had Sakura tied where slowly breaking under the pressure, soon, very soon it would break and he would lose her down the waterfall.

He couldn't let that happen, he didn't now why but for some reason he didn't want her to die, not as long as he was around.

SNAP!

"HELP!" Sakura screamed falling to her doom.

The bushes near by rustled and out came a shadowy figure who grabbed her just in time and jump to the other side of the waterfall.

Sakura opened her closed eyes to look at who saved her. For some reason, she was really hoped it was Itachi, but she was also praying it wasn't

As her eyes opened she started to see the face of her saviour, and she saw a face that resembled Itachi's.

"Itachi?" she asked questionably,

"Sakura you really have to be more careful," he said, after hearing the voice she saw the face belonged to none other than Uchiha Sasuke.

"SASUKE-KUN!" she yelled getting excited Sasuke had saved her yet again. She quickly hugged him in a tight embrace knowing that Sasuke would save her from Itachi.

Meanwhile holding onto a branch, "Sasuke." Itachi spat as he heard Sakura yelled out his name.

_Damn I was hoping I would have more time before someone came._

He jumped down onto the ledge they where on.

Sasuke and Sakura quickly turned their heads to see Itachi standing there.

Sakura looked down at the ground and quickly said something to Itachi.

"Ar. arigoto, Itachi-kun." she said, knowing that he would have saved her but the rock was quite slippery so he fell. If the rope wasn't so weak he probably would of dropped onto this ledge and continued on, but the rope was weak and it broke.

Sasuke looked at Sakura with bewilderment.

Did she just thank Itachi, and call him '-kun'?

She only called him '-kun- ONLY HIM! He started to narrow his eyes, Itachi would pay for kidnapping Sakura, but he really wanted to know why he did it. Itachi wouldn't do something so cowardly as kidnapping someone that was on his team to lure him out.

"Why did you kidnap Sakura?" he asked changing his normal eyes to sharingan.

Itachi really didn't want to tell his brother why, and from looking down at Sakura he could tell the she didn't want him to know either.

"Simple." he replied but didn't finish his sentence with a proper answer.

"Oh ya, and what is it?" Sasuke asked his voice starting to rise a bit, he could feel Sakura stop hugging him and stand up next to him.

"Sasuke-kun." she muttered softly to him, and then she said the one thing in the world that he didn't expect,

"I have to go with Itachi-kun to sort this out. I'm sorry Sasuke-kun but I have to, please don't worry about me and tell my parents that I'm alright, okay?" she said looking up from the ground and walked over to Itachi.

"Sakura you don't have to go with Itachi, you'll probably just get yourself killed." he said quickly trying to convince her not to go with Itachi and to go back with him.

He could tell that Itachi was smirking. He had found yet another thing that made Sasuke weak, and he knew that now that Sakura was going to go with him he would probably kill her just like he did his clan.

But what he wasn't expecting was what he really was going to do with her.

"Gomen Sasuke-kun, but I have to go." Sakura said and continued her way to Itachi.

Itachi smirked at him one last time as Sakura went over to him, and climbed on his back, so that she could keep up.

They hopped off, while Sasuke just stood there with the same expression on his face.

_NO YOU BASTARD ITACHI BRING HER BACK RIGHT NOW! _

_SHE'S MINE NOT YOURS! _

_MINE! _

He screamed to himself on the inside. It was driving his insane, what could they possibly have to sort out? Was he training her or something, he could do that. She didn't have to go to Itachi. Or was it something worse? Far worse?

TBC

Well another chapter, gone, and the story, well it continues on. Hm why did Sakura go with Itachi instead of Sasuke? Well r & r.


	6. chapter VI

Arranged Meetings

Disclaimer: I don't own naruto, only the plot in this story

Sorry for another long update, I found that I only really have time on the weekend so it will take me a week probably to update each story

Chapter 6

Sakura was thinking about her decision while Itachi ran off. Was it smart of her to go with the killer instead of back to safety with Sasuke? Couldn't they just say it didn't have to happen and she would be safe?

She was tempted to throw herself ofF and go back, but this was an S-class criminal we're talking about he could easy catch her.

She sighed. What was going to happen to her now?

Itachi was wondering what was going through her head, was she questioning her choice? Was his younger brother really worth that much to her?

He didn't know why he smirked when she chose him. He guessed he was sort of glad that he took another thing away from his brother.

He was distracted out of his thoughts when he heard her stomach rumble.

_Oh great, she's hungry. _

He continued on, pretending he didn't hear it.

Sasuke stood there with his hands shaking. He clenched them, then unclenched them. He thought about going after them, but where would that lead him? Sakura was smart, she would probably figure out stuff he didn't want her to know. The stuff that he didn't want anyone to know.

_I bet Itachi's doing this on purpose._

He thought, wondering if he took over Sakura's mind, with the sharingan (don't know the name of Itachi's sharingan sorry).

He looked behind him, and then started slowly to follow his brother again, making sure not to get to close for him to notice.

"I hope he didn't bring his partner." he muttered, remembering the last time he had met Kisame. Why must he have a partner who was a part of the shark clan?

Naruto woke up in the morning, still a little upset that Sakura was gone. He slowly made his way towards the cupboards and pulled out some instant ramen, he wasn't going to let this get in his way of training.

"At least Sasuke-baka is going to be there." he said as he closed the door behind him and locked it.

When he got to the bridge he saw Kakashi standing there early.

"What's going on?" he asked. Thoughts through his head of all that could have happened.

Kakashi sighed.

"Sasuke's gone missing," he said looking at Naruto.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN SASUKE'S GONE MISSING!" Naruto shouted, shocked at the fact that Sasuke was missing.

"Shhh. Not so loud Naruto." Kakashi said hoping that his fanclub wouldn't come over.

"Does the old hag know?" Naruto asked referring to the Hokage.

"Yes."

"Do you think he tried to go to Orochimaru again?" Naruto asked, remembering the time when he had to go chase him down and bring him back.

"Probably not, we don't really know where he went." Kakashi said trying to be positive.

Naruto started to panic, two people went missing from his team. Was he going to be next? Was it becuase of the fox demon that this was happening?

"What if it's a kidnapper and I'm going to be next? He could have used some special jutsu that allows him to do this!" Naruto started to go crazy.

Kakashi sighed and walked over to Naruto.

"Calm down, we're going to have to cover this up somehow."

"Well then I'm making up the excuse because your excuses suck Kaka-sensei." Naruto tried thinking of something that could have happened.

Sakura was hoping her stomach wouldn't rumble again, she was really hoping that he didn't hear it the first time.

_Yeah right, what are the chances of that?_

They had been travelling for nearly 3 hours now, and it was starting to approach nightfall. Her stomach still hadn't rumbled since and she was hoping it was going to stay that way.

He stopped so suddenly that Sakura almost choked him from her arms around his neck.

He let go of her legs, and she let go of her grip on his neck so that she would fall down to the ground.

As soon as she hit it, she almost fell over from not walking for a while.

Itachi smirked as he sensed his brother's chakra stopped.

_So he is still following us._

"I'll be back," he said heading off into some random direction.

Sakura sat there. If she hadn't just told Sasuke that she was going with Itachi, and then she would of ran for it, but since she had, she stayed.

Her eyes started to feel heavy and Itachi still wasn't back yet.

_Where is he? _

She thought, but she really couldn't dwell on it for her eyes where starting to feel too heavy and she slowly drifted off.

**Sakura's dream**

**11:17 pm**

**Some random place**

Sakura was talking with Itachi about something, they both seemed so much older. From Sakura's guess she was about 21, or somewhere around that age. She didn't recognize where she was, and she had no clue why she was still with Itachi.

_Have I still not broke the arrangement with Itachi?_

She then turned around and saw Sasuke standing there.

She left the room leaving them together. Itachi was smirking again and Sasuke ran at him with a kunai in his hand.

Her dream slowly faded away as she woke up. Someone was shaking her. It took her a while for her eye's to focus, but when they did she saw it was Itachi.

"Nani?" she muttered still trying to stay awake.

"We have to go." he said, "We need to be in a safe spot to talk about it, so that no one can hear us." he said motioning towards the forest.

Sakura looked over there but couldn't sense anything. It was still dark out, so her eyes were useless. By the time she looked over to Itachi, she was all of a sudden in his arms and he was moving on.

Sakura was trying to figure out who was following them. It didn't cross her mind that Sasuke would continue on, from what she knew of what he thought of her, she was annoying. He wouldn't have continued on.

For some reason which she really didn't know why, a blush started to creep along her face at the fact that Itachi was holding her in bridal style.

He looked so much like Sasuke to her, but yet totally different. Right now, he didn't seem like the heartless killer that slaughtered the entire Uchiha clan, the person who made Sasuke so heartless or the S-class criminal. He just seemed like any other person.

Sasuke was about to drift off when he sensed them moving again. He slowly got up and started following them, he was finding it hard to keep up. Itachi was going extremely fast, it even seemed so much faster than Rock Lee.

But he couldn't leave her with him, he was his brother after all. He was almost positive that after he was done discussing his "business" with Sakura, he would kill her. Sasuke couldn't let that happen, not while he was still alive. She was the only person that helped bring light into his dismal miserable life, although he didn't show it and had always put her down, he was waiting for the right moment to tell her.

And something inside him told him that that day was coming faster than he wanted. He was only 15 after all, but with telling Sakura his feelings he could finally knock off that annoying Yamanaka girl.

Itachi's chakra was slowly fading from it's strong vibe to a weak one. He couldn't lose her to him, it seemed like he had never gotten his way. He couldn't let another thing he loved to be destroyed by Itachi again. Not this time.

TBC

Well again sorry for the delay, I'm still figuring out the pairing's, I find I am always asking your for your opinion so I'm going to try and figure it out myself, I don't mind much if you try to hit which on though. Don't forget to R & R.


	7. chapter VII

Arranged Meetings

Disclaimer: I don't own naruto only the plot of this story

Chapter 7

Itachi's chakra was slowly fading from it's strong vibe to a weak one, he couldn't lose her to him, it seemed like he had never gotten his way. He couldn't let another thing he loved be destroyed by Itachi again. Not this time.

Sasuke started to run again, they where moving way too fast for him to keep up.

_Damn him!_

He cursed his brother for being so fast. Every time he thought he was catching up, Itachi would move with Sakura again.

Sakura was still tired from when she had dosed off alone in the forest, so it seemed almost impossible for her to keep her eyes opened, slowly but surely she started to drift off again, but her dream didn't return.

Itachi was proud of the location he found and created a clone of them and sent it off to draw his brother away from them, acting as a decoy.

_Was he really that far behind?_

After 5 minutes Sasuke still hadn't gone by.

_Or is it he knows that that was a decoy? _

_He does have the sharingan after all._

He continued thinking. He was so deep in thought that he forgot to put Sakura down.

He finally snapped out when he heard a very soft quiet snore come from her. As he looked down he saw her asleep in his arms, he was about to just drop her to the ground. But then, he figured he wouldn't so he placed her lightly down and walked away to take a bath in a spring somewhere.

Sasuke saw this as a perfect opportunity. He could tell that his brother had sent a clone so he stopped, and was almost tempted to make one of his own to make his brother think that he fell for it, then he remembered that his brother always seemed to have the sharingan on so he didn't.

He started to slowly sneak over to where Sakura was, even if she didn't want to go back just yet, he knew how dangerous his brother was so he couldn't just leave her.

Sasuke saw Sakura on the ground snuggled up against a tree, he walked over hiding his chakra the best he could and slowly pick her up in his arms also in bridal style to make her subconscious mind think it was Itachi again. With that they were on the move again.

It seemed to work because she didn't seem to move he started to move at a pretty fast pace trying to gain a lead over his brother, for he knew if he found out he would really need that lead.

After a good 15 minutes of traveling he could feel Sakura snuggling into his chest trying to find a comfortable position. He couldn't help but blush, even when she was going gogo-gaga over him she wouldn't dare try and snuggle in to him.

As Itachi was slowly walking back to where he had left Sakura, he noticed that a certain pink haired girl was missing.

Itachi smirked.

_So he wants it to be that way._

He slowly started to follow Sasuke's trail of chakra.

Sasuke could feel his brother starting to come after him so he sped up a little but not too much so that he wouldn't totally waste his chakra. He needed to find a safe spot for them to hide. Even Konoha wouldn't be safe because then Itachi could just take her back, and her parents didn't seem to mind as much as they should at the fact that their daughter was kidnapped by a S-class criminal, but that would be alright. Then they probably wouldn't mind if she dated or even married him.

He could feel her fidget around a bit more, and knew that she might wake up soon. It felt like it was around 3:30 in the morning, the sun still wasn't up yet.

_Just stay asleep a bit longer._

He looked around for the ideal location to hide her and himself.

"Where will you run, where will you hide? Nowhere is safe from me." Itachi was catching up with his brother, he was now about 5 minutes behind and was closing in.

"It won't be long until she is.." he stopped at that sentence, realizing what he was going to say.

He stopped suddenly, his eye's opening up a bit.

_Why was I going to say that, she doesn't mean a thing to me, she's only another pathetic thing in this earth that is all._

He nodded trying to agree with this statement but something just didn't seem to agree.

"Ah well, I need to catch up to them, I don't want to be betrothed to her anymore." he said and started running again.

Sasuke could feel Itachi's lead started to increase again.

_Damn it, what's he planning?_

He tried to run faster.

Sakura's eyes started to slowly open again.

"Where am I?" she muttered trying to look at her surroundings but they where just whizzing by.

_These arms, there not Itachi's, they aren't long enough to be his arms._

_But then, whose arms are they?_

She slowly looked up to see it was Sasuke's arms.

_NANI!_

Her eyes opening wide, she was now fully awake.

"Sasuke-kun why?" she asked, the answer still unclear to her.

_Didn't he leave?_

Her thoughts then went to the chakra chasing them.

"Itachi-kun." she muttered but it wasn't quiet enough for Sasuke not to noticed the '-kun.'

TBC

Hoped you enjoyed it don't forget to R & R


	8. chapter VIII

Arranged Meetings

Disclaimer: same as always, I don't own naruto or any other thing

YAY I finally got an editor, and I'm resuming this fanfic, so hope you enjoy this chapter, sorry if the characters are a little OOC, but this is fanfiction so please bear with me. And also sorry that this chapter is going to be short.

**REMEMBER: I DON'T EXCEPT FLAMERS, ONLY HELPFUL CRITICISM**

Thanks to

Yufvinvalentine, my editor

Hao'sAnjul - Neko Blah Blah - Shujouteki Kumo - BlackAngelBlood - Maya Amano - CrissyKitty - Shikage-Tsaya - Synette-Da-Killa - BlueMarina - dragonflyelj – miki - Dagorwen of Ithilien

Chapter 8

"Itachi-kun." she muttered but it wasn't quiet enough for Sasuke not to notice the '-kun'.

Sasuke looked at her in awe. She called his brother, the murderer of his entire clan, the person he devoted his life to kill, 'Itachi-kun'.

Quickly checking her forehead to see if she was running a fever, he was upset in seeing that she was perfectly fine.

"Sakura, what are you talking about? This is Itachi, you know what he did." but she just merely shook her head.

"No, I-i-it's difficult explain, okay?" she muttered still confused at what was going on.

"Why are you after him, he will bring you nothing but pain, the best you could hope for is to die!" Sasuke started to yell, he couldn't get a proper hold on his emotions.

_Why would Sakura want to be with Itachi? _

He could only think of two possible answers; either Itachi was blackmailing her so he could make his life more miserable, or Sakura might actually have fallen in love with the S-class criminal.

"Sasuke-kun, could you please put me down?" Sakura pleaded. She was amazed at what she heard out of Sasuke, she had never heard him say so many completed sentences since the incident with his clan.

"I need to finish my business with Itachi."

Sasuke came to a dead stop when a figure was seen standing in front of him.

"Unhand my future wife." Itachi demanded as he was closing the distance between him and Sasuke.

"Fu-Future wife?" a dazed expression crossed Sasuke's face, "No." was all he answered when he regained his barrier that hides his raw emotions.

"Why not? Why are you being so protective of her?"

Sasuke quickly snapped back with. "She's my teamate, I have to protect her because she's weak."

"Last time I remember, you didn't care about the weak, my little brother."

Sakura bit her bottom lip.

What was Itachi trying to get at?

Did Sasuke have feelings for her?

It was complicating everything, before it seemed so simple. She thought she was just going to go and end the betrothal, so she could return to her normal life, but for some reason, she wanted to stay with Itachi, she didn't mind his presence. But figuring out that Sasuke might like her, she couldn't take it anymore, her brain was already confused and couldn't make heads or tails of this situation.

Sasuke gripped Sakura tighter.

"My little brother, remember our pitiful father? He believed that since we were from a high class, we shouldn't date like others. Instead we would be betrothed with a perfect match. Eight years ago, both Haruno Sakura's father and ours met to discuss the marriage arrangements. She is to be my wife!"

That last line killed Sasuke; it was like a bug slowly eating him from the inside out, tearing every fibre of his being apart. He would never admit it, but he loved how Sakura was always there and how she would ask him out. He really hates to reject her every time, but had felt he couldn't date her until he killed Itachi, though it seemed that his older brother had found yet another way to ruin his life. Sakura then finally spoke, after their long talk.

"You mean we're still going to get married?"

There was a long silence after and no one spoke.

"NO, I WILL NOT LET YOU TAKE ANOTHER THING AWAY FROM ME!" Sasuke yelled rising his voice above its normal low tone, and no longer was it monotonous or icy, it was full of emotions.

Itachi's face twisted into a half grin and half frown. He didn't want to admit it, but he enjoyed Sakura's company. Although he always had his partner Hoshigaki Kisame, that was never enough to satisfy the wanting for human contact which he had always longed for.

"You leave me with no other options." Itachi said. His red sharingan that were spinning slowly before had gradually begun to speed up. "I will not fight you while Sakura is in your possession."

Sasuke knew that if he put Sakura down right now, he would be a dead man, but he needed to fight his older brother, and now was the perfect time.

"STOP, STOP THIS RIGHT NOW!" Sakura shouted, tears slowly leaked from her eyes. She won't allow someone to die in hopes of winning her heart. "Must someone always have to die! I- I won't allow it, if one of you kill the other, I will not be with either of you." she regretted that last line as soon as she said it. She couldn't image life without Sasuke-kun, and somehow, Itachi had become part of her life as well.

"Then pick Sakura." Sasuke said. "If you don't want us to fight, there is only one way to end this, pick one of us. Who do you really want?" Her teary eyes opened wide at the comment, she couldn't pick who she wanted to be with for the rest of her life on the spot.

"I- I can't expect to know what my heart desires right now. It's still young and full of confusion, give me a week then I'll be able to come up with an answer."

"Sakura." Itachi said, his voice pleading for her to pick him, "If that is what you want, then meet me here in 168 hours (7 days) exactly." Itachi then violently threw down a kunai to mark the spot. "Just remember, my cherry blossom, don't waste anymore of my time, if you do not wish to be with me." with that he disappeared leaving a puff of smoke.

A look of victory, and defeat crossed Sasuke's face. He would go home with Sakura, and be a hero but he might risk losing her forever if she chooses Itachi.

"Come on let's go." Sasuke said, his voice returning to normal as if the whole ordeal never happened. "Everyone will be wondering what happened." Sakura nodded then slowly snuggled into Sasuke's arms, they where no where near as comfortable as Itachi's. However, it meant that she was going home to the bathtub and to her bed.

"Sasuke-kun, could you promise me not to tell anyone what happened here?"

Sasuke nodded. "Of course." he knew if someone did know then he would suffer and major blow to his reputation and it means that the Hyuugas might be able to mock him.

TBC

Okay hope you enjoyed it, as most noticed I deleted my other story, but I will be starting a new one soon, I don't know what it's about yet but it will be more descriptive and hopefully a lot better. Don't forget to R &R.


	9. chapter IX

Arranged Meetings

Disclaimer: I don't own naruto cause I'm broke, but I own the story, cause I wasted all my money on it.

A/N YAY I'm alive, since all the action so far in my summer has calmed down I finally found time to update, sorry for making you all wait and I'm sorry that this chapter really doesn't have that much stuff but please enjoy.

Recap of last chapter

_Sakura you have 7 days to figure out whom you which to be with…_

"_Sasuke-kun, could you promise me not to tell anyone what happened here?"_

_Sasuke nodded. "Of course." he knew if someone did know then he would suffer and major blow to his reputation and it means that the Hyuuga's might be able to mock him._

----

Chapter 9

Sasuke walked through the gates of Konoha where Naruto was sitting patiently waiting for Sasuke's return with Sakura.

"Took you long enough Sasuke-teme, if I went then I would have been back with Sakura-Chan five hours ago." Naruto remarked but grew mad as Sasuke continued to walk by him, not listening to a word he was saying.

"Hey dobe, go tell the Hokage the Sakura is back." Sasuke called over his shoulder heading towards Sakura's house, with her cuddled into his arms.

As Sasuke reached to knock on the door he realised with Sakura in his arms that he couldn't reach the door without hitting her head on the door frame. Trying a couple of times to knock with his hands, he gave up and used his foot to kick on the door.

Two sets of feet could be heard rushing down the stairs, then the porch light flicked on and the door was swung open. Both of Sakura's parents looked down at Sasuke a bit confused. Feeling the awkwardness Sasuke handed their daughter over to her father so that he could leave.

Sakura's father took her from Sasuke still confused on why they were getting Sakura from the younger Uchiha.

_Didn't Itachi take her? _

But then decided to let the young man go home so he could get some rest since it was only Wednesday and he had training tomorrow along with all the other genins. Sakura's mom closed the door behind them as her dad took Sakura to her bedroom and placed her sleeping frame onto her bed and putting the sheets over top of her and turning off the lights so she could sleep.

Sakura's father walked into the living room where his wife was sitting down on one of there sofa's.

"What do you think happened?" He asked her sitting down beside his wife. (A/N we'll call her Emiko)

"I don't know, I remember sensing Itachi's chakra then the two of them heading off outside of Konoha. So where does Sasuke fit into this?" Emiko asked back, then headed to the kitchen to make some tea, Emiko could tell that they wouldn't be going back to bed tonight and it wasn't too early in the morning.

"Kakashi must have gone against our wishes and sent him to go get Sakura. That man does not know when to leave family matters alone does he?" (A/n we'll call her dad Koji) Koji called to his wife as she walked back from the kitchen with a hot kettle in her hand and two cups with a green tea bag sticking out of each one.

"I can tell he was trying to go with our wishes, but everyone else in the village believes Itachi-kun is a dangerous man. In fact I don't blame him for killing the clan." Emiko said putting the tea bag in and getting it to the right strength before pouring out two cups and handing one to her husband.

"True when the name Itachi comes up, everyone is scared and presumes trouble don't they." He said sipping the cup slowly.

"Koji-kun, we should send a letter to Kakashi-sensei telling him that Sakura won't be going to training this morning. She's probably exhausted and I want to know exactly what happened with the arranged marriage." Emiko said as she pulled out some paper and a pen to write the note.

Koji got up and paced back and forth trying to figure out if the marriage would still be on or not.

It was 9:30 am when Sakura finally awoke from sleeping, as she turned over to look at her clock she screamed. She was SOO late for training. It wasn't serious, but of course Kakashi-sensei would probably only be arriving now, if she really hurried she might be able to make it. She flung her soft cotton sheets from her body and reached for some clothing from her closet and rushed into the bathroom.

"Sakura-chan." her mother called her from downstairs.

"We excused you from training today, please calm down and take your time." Sakura was already in putting water in the bath tub when she heard this and breathed a sigh of relief. "Although once you're done, I would like to talk to you."

Sakura called back saying she understood and filled the bathtub with the cherry blossom smelling bubble bath and perfume. Then climbed in letting her muscles relax and all the dirt and sweat from the night before come off her body.

Half an hour later when Sakura finally surfaced from the bathroom, dressed with her hair freshly dried from the blow dryer. Her father had gone to work two hours ago so it was only Sakura and Emiko in the house. Pulling some of her breakfast out of the oven where her mother left it to keep it warm, Sakura sat down across from her mother at the breakfast table and started to eat while her mom explained what she wanted to talk about.

"Honey, What happened while you were out with Itachi-kun?" her mother questioned as Sakura cut her egg apart and put a portion in her mouth.

"Well after Itachi-kun stole me from my room, we left Konoha and ..." Sakura blushed realising she had just called him Itachi-kun in front of her mother. Emiko raised and eyebrow, then motioned for her to go on.

"Well we didn't get to talk much since Sasuke came after us and then one thing led to another and a chase, then I learned that Sasuke-kun liked me and now I have to choose who I'm going to marry at age 13." Sakura said a bit mad at the last part, she wanted to find love not be forced to figure out who she wanted to marry in a week. Emiko nodded then asked.

"So which Uchiha are you going to pick?" Sakura pouted

"I don't know, I mean I've always wanted Sasuke-kun to like me back, and now I know he does, or at least he might be trying to get revenge on his brother. And I have no clue about Itachi-kun." Sakura stopped. She knew she had to go find Sasuke-kun after their training and ask him how he really felt about her.

Putting her plate in the dishwasher Sakura then said goodbye to her mother and ran out the door without another word, leaving her Emiko confused.

"Sakura-chan where are you going?" she called out at the door but Sakura didn't give a reply and headed to Sasuke's "Secret" training spot that every Sasuke fan girl knew where it was. Looking at the clock on one of the building she knew that their training should just be ending now, so she applied some chakra into her feet to help her run fast to the spot.

Sakura had to get their before the other fan girls or else she wouldn't get any privacy with Sasuke. Looking up Sakura saw Sasuke jumping through the trees.

_Perfect_

She went to catch up to him. "Sasuke-kun." she called out.

As Sasuke turned his head to look at her, Sakura saw a flash of Itachi in her mind; she stopped running, and shook her head to get the image out of her head.

"Can I talk with you?" Sakura continued on pretending that she didn't see anything. Sasuke looked at her confused then nodded, letting her catch up to him.

"What is Sakura?" he asked her actually using her name.

"Could we go somewhere more private, it's about last night." She said looking around. He nodded then headed off to a spot where he knew that no one besides him knew about.

It was a small creek that connected up with a river that went outside Konoha. They sat on a small grassy hill that was hidden by all sides of trees.

"Sasuke-kun, do you love me?" she asked for the final time, except this time it was different from all the others.

"I-" Sasuke started.

I promise to make the chapters longer I'm working on it, but I figured this would be a good spot to leave of for now.

So what did you think of that chapter, I'll try to update soon, within the week hopefully. Don't forget to R&R

Kaze-ryu


	10. Chapter X

Arranged Meetings

Disclaimer: Same as all the other chapters

A/n Sorry about the horrible OOC of Sasuke in this chapter, but as I said before this is Fanficiton

NOTE: This is an unedited version so if the spelling bothers you wait a little longer for my editor YufVin-Valentine to edit it.

Recap of Chapter 9.2

"_Sasuke-kun, do you love me?" she asked for the final time, except this time it was different from all the others. "I" Sasuke started._

----

Chapter 10

**- Konoha**

**After team 7's training**

**Hidden spot -**

"I-" Sasuke started not meeting her face. He always had difficulty in expressing his emotions after the massacre of his family by the one man he was trying to win Sakura from.

_Why does she even hesitate deciding who she wanted to be with? _

_How many times has she told me that she loved me? _

_It should be an easy choice_.

Sasuke thought all within two seconds after Sakura asking him.

"I do." he answered, still not meeting her emerald green eyes that were swimming with emotion. He was afraid if he looked in them he would drown.

"Then say it Sasuke, tell me that you love me." Sakura knew it would be hard for him. If he truly loved her but couldn't say those three words then Sakura knew that it wouldn't be worth wasting the rest of her life with Sasuke.

_Although was it really wasting_?

Sakura slapped away the thought, and waited patiently for Sasuke to answer.

Sasuke clenched a fist.

_Damn Sakura_ _why do you have to make things so difficult, I answered your question_.

Sasuke grumbled to himself as he said the words over in his head.

_I lo-love you._

This so wasn't helping him, if anyone was listening to this conversation, then his reputation would totally ruined. Rock lee would most likely think of him as 'his rival in love' and that so wasn't a title Sasuke wanted.

"Sakura, I-I love you." Sasuke turned his head so she couldn't see the blush creeping up on his face, and the fact that he found it easer to tell her when he wasn't staring at her.

_Please say she doesn't want me to tell it to her face, there is no way I'm saying it again_!

Once he felt his face was cooling down, Sasuke turned his head so Sakura could see almost all of it, but he still wasn't looking her in the eyes.

_Damn why isn't she saying anything. _

_TALK! _

Never before had Sasuke wanted Sakura to actually talk, usually he wanted her to be quiet so he could focus and become stronger.

"Thank you Sasuke-kun for telling this to me. It will help my decision a lot." Sakura stood up and walked away with her mind swimming in the choice given to her. She didn't want to go home, not yet anyway. Sakura didn't want to face another barrage of questions from her mother, and her father would be getting home soon; after all, it was 3:45. Sakura walked towards the park where she spent most of the days of her youth crying from being called names and being made fun of due to her forehead. She went over to a tree and grabbed a branch, hoisting herself onto one of the lower branches, then onto another one, climbing higher up into the tree.

Finding the thick branch she was looking for, Sakura sat on it with her back pressed to the tree's trunk.

_Who am I going to choose?_

Sakura didn't even know why she was considering Itachi as a choice. He was a S-class criminal who killed his family and made Sasuke the way he was now, or was that the reason Sakura was attracted to Sasuke? Was it the secret, mysterious exterior that she liked about him? No! it couldn't be Sakura remembered in her youth that Sasuke was nice to her when she was young and told her that her forehead really wasn't that big, no larger then anyone else's.

_Flashback_

_Sakura was leaning against the cherry blossom tree that she was always by when someone had made fun of her forehead. _

"_Hey Giant forehead girl, why don't you come play ball with us, with any luck we can make your nose big so that it matches your forehead" they teased bouncing the ball in their hands. Hugging her knees another tear escaped her eyes, remembering that from earlier that day._

_Sakura took an arm and tried to cover her forehead so no one could see it every again, how could she listen to her mother's advice of not letting it bother her, she was probably never teased about a big forehead._

_Footsteps could be heard coming up the cement walkway that went through the entire park, another tear escaped her eye, were they coming back to tease her some more? Surely they had teased her enough today, were they bored already? But as her eyes peered over her knees to see who it was. She saw a boy with raven hair standing in front of her. Sakura had seen him around before, he always had someone to hang out with, or he was with his older brother._

"_Hey what's wrong?" Sasuke asked, seeing the crying girl before him raise her head to look at him. _

"_It's my forehead." Sakura said, not sure why she was telling him, he probably was going to tell the group how pathetic she was crying there all alone. "What's wrong with it?" Sasuke questioned not seeing a boo-boo on it._

"_Did you hurt it?" he asked sounding totally innocent. _

"_No, can't you tell IT'S HUGE!" Sakura said more tears cascading down her pale smooth complexion. _

"_Doesn't look that big." Sasuke said holding out a hand and measuring it, then comparing it to his. _

"_Your forehead is smaller then mine." He said looking confused on why she said it was so large, his forehead was average sized. _

"_What?" Sakura asked surprised lifting her head from her knees and measured her to his to make sure he didn't shrink it when comparing it to hers to make her feel better._

_It was true, her forehead was smaller then his. _

"_I don't see why you were crying about that." Sasuke said but then heard his name being called. _

"_Sasuke, come on it's time to go!" it was his older brother calling him. _

"_Coming!" Sasuke yelled back starting to run away, but then turned around. _

"_My name is Uchiha Sasuke, what is yours?" he asked looking once more at the small girl before him. _

"_Ha-haruno Sakura." She answered the boy. _

"_Bye then Sakura-chan." Sasuke said running to catch up to his brother who had already started to walk away. _

"_Bye Sasuke-kun!" Sakura called after him getting to her feet to wave._

_End of Flashback_

Sakura smiled at the memory, he really was too innocent when he was younger, although, now that innocence was gone, long replaced by anger and revenge. Sakura totally forgot about Itachi in that memory, why didn't she ever notice him?

"Itachi-kun." She muttered. He also seemed so kind, not the type of guy to go and kill his whole family.

_Damn why did this have to happen to me, although I've never had two guys who I actually think are hot fighting over me_

Sakura stopped, since when did she admit to herself that Itachi was hot, thinking back she never actually thought about that.

Sakura smirked, no matter what she would be Uchiha Sakura, she always wrote everywhere in her diary Uchiha Sakura, she liked the way it came out, but of course she always imagined Sasuke being her husband.

_I should be happy Sasuke said he loves me, so why didn't I choose him straight away? _

_I've always loved him, or was my heart lying?_

Shaking it off Sakura heard her stomach rumble and looked at the sun.

"I have to get home." Sakura said in shock, putting some chakra back into her feet and running off to her home. It was already 7:30, her family ate dinner at seven she missed it! Running past she saw Naruto eating Ramen at Ichiraku, with at least three bowls empty bowls beside him.

Swinging open the front door, Sakura saw the glass vase beside the door fall. Sakura's eyes went wide as she dived down to grab it before it hit the ground shattering into many pieces. Catching it just a couple inches from the ground Sakura let out a sigh of relief and put it back on the table. Taking off her shoes Sakura heard her mother from the kitchen.

"Nice to see your home, Sakura." She said knowing exactly that Sakura had hit the vase with the flowers form Ino's shop in it.

"Sorry I was lost in thought and lost track of the time." Sakura apologised to her parents while walking into the kitchen to see if they left her anything.

"Sakura I know how much stress you're going through trying to decide who to marry, but remember that your father and I will respect your choice no matter who you choose." Emiko said holding a small glass of green tea in her hands while sitting at the table.

"Where is otou-san?" Sakura asked finding no remnants of dinner anywhere.

"You won't find anything, we only made enough for two, figuring you would be out late" Emiko said with a laugh seeing the annoyed look on Sakura's face.

"And your father is packing for a mission, Hokage-sama asked him to go on one, just a simple A ranked mission, nothing an Anbu can't handle." She said pointing to where the frying pan was so Sakura could stop her search and finish making herself some dinner.

"Sakura, although I know your decision, no one else in the village besides for Uchiha Sasuke, your sensei, and the Hokage knows so, make sure to pay attention to your training tomorrow, don't let your mind wander until after it okay?" Emiko said pouring her daughter a glass of green tea and putting it beside the plate the Sakura had set down.

"Thanks oka-san and I will try." Sakura said flipping the food in the frying pan and grabbing her plate to put it on. Turning off the gas, Sakura grabbed her plate and sat down at the table grabbing her chopsticks and slowly eating the hot food.

"Remember we can always offer you advice if you ever need any" Emiko said standing up from the table and leaving the kitchen.

----

Sakura lay in bed looking up at her ceiling, that night, her eyes just didn't want to shut, and sleep wouldn't come to her. She was thinking about how each life would be like, with having Sasuke or Itachi as a husband, and what she would do. That night Sakura did not go to sleep, she even heard her otou-san get up from bed, take a shower, eat some food and leave for his mission. Sakura sighed deciding that she was going to get up too, Sakura went to grab some clothing from her closet, seeing the her normal red dress wasn't there she just grabbed some other clothing and went to take a bath.

By the time she came out of the bath it was 5:50 in the morning and her mother was just getting up. Coming down the stairs she was surprised to see her daughter all ready up and cooking breakfast, usually she would sleep in as much as possible, ignoring her alarm clock and relying her mother to get up but here she was.

"Ohayo Oka-san." Sakura said in a cheerful fashion, the bath had given her energy and she was ready for the day.

"I see that you didn't find your laundry hanging up downstairs, but that outfit looks better on you, and is more fitting for a ninja I must say" Her mother complemented taking some food that Sakura had cooked up.

"Did you decide last night?" Emiko asked grabbing chopsticks from the draw.

"Nope, but I didn't make it worse, I went over all the positives and negatives of each." Sakura said still sounding happy. Sitting down at the table she had plenty of time to talk with her mother while eating.

"Time for you to go Sakura" her mom said, also deciding it was time for her to go to work as well.

"Right bye oka-san, if I'm not back in time, could you at least make some dinner for me!" Sakura yelled closing the door and walking to the meeting spot, she found she was in no hurry to get there, Kakashi-sensei wouldn't be there for at least another hour.

----

Reaching the meeting spot, Sakura saw the Sasuke and Naruto were already there, and of course no Kakashi.

"Sakura-chan you're late…" But Naruto stopped looking at her new outfit; Sasuke also seemed to look at her from his relaxed spot on the bridge. Sakura was wearing knee length beige shorts, the top looked like her red dress, but it was a tank top and it was cut off around the waist and it had the circle on her back.

"You look amazing Sakura-chan!" Naruto said almost drooling at how this new outfit was slightly more fitted and showed a bit more.

"Naruto!" Sakura said already clenching her fist and about to make contact when she stopped.

_I'm better then that, I don't need to hit him._

Sakura slowly got her cool back and leaned against the bridge's railing. Sasuke looked away, trying not to stare, but this outfit looked really good on her.

_No, not really good, IT LOOKS AMAZING!_

Sasuke shook his head, getting the voice out of his head.

----

Kakashi arrived two hours later with his perverted Icha Icha paradise book in his hand.

"Yo!" he said waiting for the usual shouts, and of course they came, both Naruto and Sakura yelling at him, Sakura telling him that he should set a better example as their sensei.

"Ah well a new edition of Icha Icha paradise came out and I had to read it straight away. Oh Sakura your new outfit looks good." Kakashi stopped with his excuse and returned to the book.

"What are we going to be doing today Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked eager to get to training, she knew the once training were over she could return to the tree, pondering some more on her decision.

"Ah well we will start with some throwing." Kakashi stopped turning over the page of his book, he assumed they knew what to do so he didn't bother with any more instructions.

Seeing this, they went towards their training grounds to where the targets where already set up. Sakura seemed surprisingly good at this today, all her throws were powerful and hitting directly in the center of the board, even though Kakashi blindfolded them all before they started telling them to 'look underneath the underneath' of course Naruto took this as looking underneath the blindfold when he threw.

_Damn I hate this, why do they want me to choose? _

_I'm only thirteen for gods sake! _

_Why couldn't they come up with a competition with something that neither of them were good at, or Sasuke was good at and Itachi sucked at so they were even?_

Thoughts like this ran through Sakura's head as she threw each weapon, letting all her anger go out in the direction she felt that the air stopped at something in which she presumed was the targets.

When training for that day was almost done and idea came to Sakura, she was already two days into the week she had, since she only had five more days Sakura knew that the time would go by fast so she had to make a decision before then so that she could enjoy her days of being single, and unbound from one of the Uchiha's.

Once training was over and Naruto went to Ichiraku and Sasuke went off to train, Sakura went over to her sensei, to ask him something.

"Kakashi-sensei, could I ask for advice or a bit of guidance?" Kakashi may be lazy and always late, but he was a good ninja and could help her out with almost any situation.

"What is it Sakura?" Kakashi asked finally putting his book away into his back pouch so he could listen to what Sakura was stuck with. She was a smart ninja and usually didn't need to ask him for help in her personal life.

"Well, I'm torn between two things, and I can only have one. I don't know which to choose, how would you go about deciding something like that?" Sakura asked not knowing what to expect from the copy cat ninja.

"Hm." Kakashi said rubbing his concealed chin that was hidden from underneath his mask.

"Well Sakura it depends on what two things you're stuck between, and how much you want it." He said wondering what in the world Sakura could be stuck between.

Sakura was having difficulty in how to ask Kakashi without giving away her current situation. "Uh...well, how would you decide if you were to choose between something that you would be with for the rest of your life, where both of the things are really close to you and you didn't know how your life would be without one of them?" Sakura answered hoping that her sensei was kept in the dark as much as possible.

"Well then if I were to spend the rest of my life with it, then I suppose that I would…."

----

Ya I know that I left it in a weird spot but I need to think about some stuff before I continue on with the story, but by next chapter Sakura will have to give her answer, so basically the story is almost over, so R & R, and I hope that some idea's come to me for another story, It's winter holidays so I might update again…hopefully


	11. Chapter XI

Arranged Meetings

Disclaimer: As always, I don't own anything but the plot.

A/N: Woot this will be my longest chapter to date, ten whole pages . This might be the last chapter unless I get a fair amount of reviews telling me against, or unless I get a brilliant idea on how to continue.

Sorry about the lack of updating but I broke my wrist during school soccer (I'm a goalie) and I've been busy with exams and all that other good stuff. But hopefully this chapter might make up for the lack of them.

Thanks to all my faithful reviewers who gave me all the encouraging me to continue on with this fanfic, so know I will present you with the final chapter -.

_Italics -thoughts_

Sakura sat in the special spot of hers at the park, hidden within the veil of sakura blossoms. She recalled her sensei's answer from earlier when she asked him how he would make an important decision.

The wind blew her hair gently, concealing her face which was etched in thought as her sensei's words played over in her head.

_Flashback_

"_Well, I'm torn between two things, and I can only have one. I don't know which to choose, how would you go about deciding something like that?" Sakura asked not knowing what to expect from the copy cat ninja. _

"_Hm." Kakashi said rubbing his concealed chin that was hidden from underneath his mask. _

"_Well Sakura it depends on what two things you're stuck between, and how much you want it." He said wondering what in the world Sakura could be stuck between._

_Sakura was having difficulty in how to ask Kakashi without giving away her current situation. "Uh...well, how would you decide if you were to choose between something that you would be with for the rest of your life, where both of the things are really close to you and you didn't know how your life would be without one of them?" Sakura answered hoping that her sensei was kept in the dark as much as possible._

"_Well then, if I were to spend the rest of my life with it, then I suppose that I would go with my gut feeling. I've always relied on it in my past and it has not yet failed me."_

_Sakura smiled at her sensei and thanked him for the advice, then walked away like the other two had done. She knew that no one could tell her the answer to this question. It was her decision alone, but she had never really been good at making decisions and often pondering over them until the last moment. _

_Walking without a clear destination, her feet led her to that oh-so-familiar-park with trees that she had been named after. "Why do these things always happen to me?" She asked herself silently._

_End of Flashback_

"Gut feeling huh? Then why isn't my gut telling me anything." She leaned her head back so that it rested against the tree trunk. She laughed at herself as she thought on how she did all her previous decisions- 'Inny-meeny-minny-moo.' If only that would work, unfortunately she had done it so many times in the past that she already knew the answer by from which one she starts off with. The idea of visiting Ino's flower shop to purchase a flower came to mind, one with many petals, that way she could delay it for a while. Although with her current situation, was wasting time such a good idea? Well, she wouldn't be wasting that much time right?

Jumping down from the tree, she started heading towards the flower shop. She reached into her pocket for her wallet and found that she would have enough to purchase a bouquet of flowers, so she definitely had enough for one. Walking over to the cement walkway that went round the park and through it, Sakura turned left seeing it was the fastest way to get back into the busy town area. Being in her own world as always, Sakura almost walked right past a bush full of Camellia Can Can's. A smile quickly spread over Sakura's face, these flowers had tonnes of petals and the best part was that they were close by and free. Plucking two of them from the bush, Sakura placed one in her hair while holding the other and walked back to the tree.

_Sasuke_

_Itachi_

_Sasuke_

_Itachi_

_Sasuke_

_Itachi_

Sakura continued with this for a while, saying the names over and over in her head as another petal was plucked from the flower. Soon she was down to the last couple petals; a queasy and exciting feeling came over her at seeing the small amount of petals. It means she would have her answer any second now. Picking off a petal she continued with the little mantra in her head.

_Itachi_

_Sasuke_

"Itachi"

"Sasuke"

"Itachi"

"…Sasuke"

Sakura finished holding the final petal between her thumb and index finger. Halfway through plucking the small amount of petals, She had, without even realizing it, started to say their names out loud, the pitch in her voice went higher and higher as she had neared the end.

Well the flowers never lied, her choice was made and it was Sasuke. Her Sasuke-kun, but somehow she felt like the flower was only picking him because he lived in the same village as it does. Maybe the flower was in fact a Sasuke fan...flower? Before her rant in her head could continue, Sakura remembered that she was talking about a flower, and that flowers didn't know much about anything but the small area they were in. A smile spread across her face.

"Sasuke-kun it is." This way, she wouldn't feel like a traitor by marrying an S-ranked criminal.

Feeling as if a giant burden had been lifted off her shoulders, Sakura could now enjoy her final five days of freedom. A small smile spread across her face once again. How many people married their first true love? Hell, Sakura hadn't even dated Sasuke or anyone else, and now she was supposed to get married? Shaking her head and dismissing the thoughts, Sakura smiled and headed back to the town with the flower still in her hair. Heading to the ramen shop, Sakura was sure that Naruto was finished eating. After all, she had spent two hours leaning on the tree, staying in that stupid position, her back felt quite stiff. Seeing the empty stool that the loud ninja always sat on, Sakura felt a little sad, a part of her aches for company that she had not had in a while thanks to her dilemma. Sitting down in the spot where she always sat, right in-between Sasuke-kun and Naruto, she ordered a shrimp ramen. Sakura found herself having a nice conversation with the owner's daughter (a/n does anyone know her name, I know it's mentioned in the anime). Without even realizing it, an hour went by. Leaving the shop, Sakura found herself wandering the streets that would eventually take her home. Twisting the door knob, Sakura found it locked for the first time, her mother would always be home before she came back from ninja training. Sakura immediately began to worry.

_What could have happened? _

_Was she kidnapped, being tortured, or was she DEAD!_

Calming herself down before things got out of hand, Sakura went around the side, heading towards the back entrance where there was a rock pathway leading around her yard.

_First stone, second, third, fourth, fifth, ah the sixth!_

Sakura squatted down and lifted up the sixth tile and pulled out a key of the ground.

Walking over to the side door, Sakura opened it and walked towards the front door to take off her shoes and also to check if her mother was there. She wasn't.

_Maybe she went shopping. _

_There should be a note ne?_

Thinking of the most logical spot her mother would put a note Sakura walked into the kitchen, but there was no note, instead, there was blood. At the sight of the crimson liquid, sirens rang in Sakura's head. As her feet began to shuffle forward in a painfully slow motion, a ring came from the living room scaring the hell out of Sakura.

"It's only the telephone." Sakura said to herself, trying to calm down her frantically beating heart. Picking up the phone Sakura spoke into it and waited to hear who it was.

"Moshi moshi?" but no reply came, so she tried again.

"Moshi Moshi!"

"Are you Haruno Sakura?" Who was that? She had never heard their voice before in her life.

"H-hai." Sakura answered hesitantly.

"This is Konohagakure Hospital, your mother is here with a minor injury and we need someone to come pick her up." Sakura let out a breath that she didn't know she had been holding, or maybe she did and was trying to kill herself, but we all know she's not suicidal so it's definitely not the latter.

"Alright, I'll be right over." Placing the phone back on the hook, Sakura walked back over to the door and slid her shoes back on before heading out. Now that she thought back on her overreaction; Sakura could only laugh at her foolishness.

It didn't take to long for Sakura to reach the hospital since she was a ninja after all. She had ran on the rooftops since it was faster. Once she reached the front reception desk and was able to get the attention of the secretary on the other side, Sakura asked what room her mother was in.

"Room 2-13." the lady said flashing a smile before returning to her tedious job. Walking up the flight of stairs to the second floor, Sakura looked at the room numbers until she reached room 13. The door was wide open with her mother sitting on a bed reading a magazine with two of her left fingers tied together with gauze.

"Oka-san, what happened?" Sakura questioned as she stepped out of the door way and into the room.

"Oh Sakura, when did you get here?" Her mother asked looking up from her book, which slightly reminded her of a certain perverted sensei. After shaking the image off immediately and yelling at herself for even thinking of her mother being like Kakashi-sensei, Sakura focused on the question her mother just asked.

"The hospital phoned, asking me to pick you up."

"Ah." was all her mother said before placing the magazine back on the side table and standing up.

"So what exactly happened to your hand oka-san?" Sakura asked knowing she wouldn't receive an answer unless she asked the question.

"Oh, well it was quite simple, I was just outside trimming the hedges and accidentally cut my fingers, I then ran to the kitchen to grab a cloth so I could apply pressure before heading down here." Her mother said waving her hands here and there unconsciously, but winced everytime she tried to pull her two bandaged finger apart, since she wasn't used of them being tied together.

As expected, Sakura's remaining five days went by quite fast. She did all things she would normally do; training, hang out with Ino-pig, going on missions, and so on. Before she knew it, the fateful day had come, with rain, cloudy skies, and the loud beeping of the pink haired kunoichi's alarm clock. A prearranged agreement with the Hokage allowed Sakura and Sasuke to go on a 'mission' to a near by village in fire country. Swinging her backpack on her shoulders that was supposedly full with mission supplies, Sakura headed off to the gate where she would be meeting up with Sasuke. Sakura had difficulty trying to force down the butterflies in her stomach, why should she be nervous?

_Maybe because you're turning down a S-class criminal?_

Shoving the idea to the back of her head, Sakura continued on seeing Sasuke already waiting at the gate for her. His stoic figure stood, acting as if it was just another mission and it wasn't life changing or important at all.

"Ready to go?" Sakura questioned as she stopped there in front of Sasuke, he merely nodded and waited for her to take the lead; something that rarely happened, therefore Sakura took full advantage of it and began walking again.

The two of them sped off towards the location that had been previously marked by the missing Nin's kunai, once they were finally able to get rid of Naruto, who was also waiting at the gate. He had been questioning why the old lady had only sent the two of them on the mission. The butterflies in Sakura's stomach seemed to double with each step they took, taking them closer to their location.

_Are you sure you can trust a flower to make a decision for the rest of your life?_

Sakura shook her head trying to rid the thoughts from her head; after all it was a bit late to change her mind.

_How sure are you that Sasuke didn't just say that to be able to beat his brother at something? _

_How do we know that he's not a great actor by making that scene look so real when you asked him how he feels about you?_

Sakura was really starting to get tired of the constant voices in her head which were questioning her decision on the matter.

_At least consult with a coin._

She decided it was better to focus on how she would tell the brothers on who she chose instead of all the other things that went on in her head. However, no matter how hard she tried her mind just kept wandering back to it. Feeling Sasuke stopped beside her, Sakura also followed his actions and looked around for the kunai on the ground, but found none.

"Sasuke-kun I don't think this is the right spot. There is no kunai here." But he shook his head in a dismissing manner.

"Sakura, who did you choose?" At hearing this, Sakura almost fell off the branch that she was currently standing on.

"Well… Sasuke-kun, you see, that would be cheating if I told you now." She smiled and began travelling again. Feeling Sasuke's chakra not moving, Sakura stopped again.

"You won't get to find out who it is if you just stand there." Sakura stated in a matter of fact voice.

"Hn." was the reply and he pointed in another direction, signaling that she was going the wrong way. A nervous smile and sweatdrop were the only things Sakura could manage to do as she altered her course to the direction Sasuke was pointing in. The remainder of the journey was just as quiet as the beginning and Sakura was still unable to find a decent way to tell the boys who she'd chosen. She decided she would just wing it; things never worked out too well when people practiced things in their head anyway. Both of them slowed their pace as they felt Itachi's chakra coming from ahead. The clearing came into view along with a black cloak with red clouds on it. Sasuke clenched his fists trying to fight the urge to activate his sharingan and fight his brother to put an end to the only other remaining Uchiha. However luckily, or unluckily, Sakura spoke, taking him out of his thoughts of revenge.

"Hello Itachi-kun." He briefly nodded and turned in their direction, showing her he was listening.

"I really don't know what to say, so I'll just give you my answer." Sakura began taking in a breath trying to calm herself down. She could see the smirk out of the corner of her eye, now doubt it was the first part of her statement.

"This decision was probably the hardest decision I've ever had to make for my future, or my life but in the end, I-I its Sasuke-kun" Sakura said regaining her composure near the end, having almost lost it when she began stuttering again. There was a silence for a bit, and Sakura almost thought that they hadn't heard her, but then again she was dealing with two Uchiha's.

_You can't take it back now._

Sasuke then smirked, and acted as if the decision was obvious, making sure to cover up all the previous feelings of uneasiness he had. Itachi merely nodded as if it really didn't matter to him. His ice cold emotionless mask replaced back onto his face, the face that Sakura had seen on him before which held some emotions was now gone- burned and the ashes blown away by the wind.

"Then I have no further use here." He simply said and disappeared, leaving the two in the clearing.

A light breeze lifted Sakura's hair so that is tickled her face. Tucking it behind her ear, she turned around and smiled at Sasuke, as if nothing was different. But this breeze might be the last of the emotions Itachi once held, the ashes. The smirk that once covered Sasuke's face was gone now as well and he simply turned around in the direction they came from.

"What should we do now?" Sakura asked, her question holding two meanings. One, it was too early for them to go back now, this mission was supposed to last at least five hours and it had only been two in a half. Two, what would happen once they get back to Konoha, would it be official or would he just act like he did now, which ever one Sasuke choose to answer was up to him.

"We can walk back to Konoha." Sasuke answered choosing the first meaning, as Sakura figured, though she really wanted him to answer the second, but you don't receive answers unless you ask the question specifically.

"Right." her smile faltered slightly at how he hadn't changed and that little moment she had with him in his secret area seemed to have meant nothing.

"Lead the way." Sakura didn't really feel like walking ahead this time. He started walking ahead as Sakura followed him. Maybe she had been hanging around with him too long or something, Sakura noticed that she had her own mask too which she placed it back on. With a 'smile', she was acting like the cheerful Sakura she always was.

"So what happens now Sasuke-kun? With us?" Sakura looked at the foliage around as the rain finally came through the clouds, drenching the couple. Wanting to avoid getting a cold, both of them sped up, while Sasuke did not answer her question just yet. After a good ten minutes of travelling Sasuke finally answered, it seemed he was trying to find an answer but the only thing that came out was-

"I don't know."

By the time the duo reached the Konoha gates again, and hour and a half later, both were soaked by the rain that had been falling done on them.

"I guess it's true when they say 'it doesn't rain, it pours,' ne Sasuke-kun?" Sakura grumbled, and made sure to address him to make sure he was still there and not dying from hypothermia.

"Hn."

_Yup he's still there_.

"You can go home. I'll head to the Hokage and inform her of what happened." Sakura offered, but of course, Sasuke would see this as a sign of weakness that Sakura thought he was too cold to do this.

"No, I'll come." Sakura nodded, she had expected that answer, but when he continued speaking, she knew that maybe something was wrong.

"I'm not that cold, but you look like you should head home to get some warmer clothing." Sakura's jaw felt like it was going to fall to the ground with her eyes bulging out, but her face quickly returned to a happy one with a smile.

"I'm alright, no worries." Both continued walking in silence as they approached the building with the fire character marking on it. Normal missions would be done by now, so they went straight to the Hokage's office. But once they got there they heard voices on the other side. One was obviously Tsunade but the other one sounded like, Sakura's mom. The voices stopped suddenly when they heard Shizine knock on the door telling them that Sakura and Sasuke were back. As the Hokage called them in, Shizune nodded and left.

They entered the room and walked passed an excited Emiko who just smiled at them sweetly before closing the door behind her. Sakura gave her mom a questioning look but was met with a door closing in her face.

"Seeing as you're still here, I suppose that you choose Uchiha Sasuke." The blond haired Godaime said from behind her desk, snapping Sakura out of her reverie.

"Hai."

"Very well then, you are dismissed." Both of them bowed and left the room.

Just before they both parted way Sakura spoke again about their situation.

"Will we tell Naruto about us? Or do you want it to remain a secret?" Sasuke seemed to contemplate his answer for a bit before giving her a reply that would suffice.

"We'll let the dobe figure out on his own. As for us, it's not a secret but don't go blabbing it off to everyone." He turned to a different direction as he casually waved over his shoulder, not even bothering to look back. He was more concerned with getting home, and into some dry clothing. It took all his will power to not to shiver with her, and was quite thankful to the warmth that he felt while inside the Hokage's office. Once he turned a corner, Sasuke sped off towards his home, in the lonely Uchiha complex.

Sakura smiled, the only way Naruto would be able to find out is if someone spelled it out for him. Picking up the pace she headed to her house, the idea of a nice hot bath and hot chocolate sounded like music to her ears. Once she had finally made it to her front door, Sakura was soaked to the point where she would have been warmer walking around naked. Twisting the door handle, Sakura then took off her shoes and tilted them so the water would fall out, before placing them inside next to all the other pairs of shoes neatly lined up.

"Tadiama." Sakura called without putting barely any effort or cheeriness into it, just to let her parents know she was home.

"Okaeri-nasai Sakura, the kettle's on if you want something to drink."

"Thanks mom." Sakura said trudging up the steps leaving a small river in her wake.

Since we really don't need to know what happens at night, lets fast forward to the next morning on the bridge where they are waiting for their late sensei.

Naruto's eyes shifted back and forth between his two team mates. It was obvious something had happened on the mission they were sent on yesterday, but what could it possibly be? Crossing his arms over his chest he nodded. It had to be that Sakura finally realized her undying love for him, and Sasuke was just jealous. The big foxy grin covered his face as he shuffled towards Sakura.

"Sakura-chan, it's..." but he was cut off as their sensei appeared, followed by the tradition 'Yo' and Sakura yelling at him while Naruto just grumbled about his horrible timing.

"Well you see, an old woman stopped and asked me to marry her granddaughter and..."

"LAIR!" Both Naruto and Sakura chorused, while Sasuke rolled his eyes, what was with all this talk about marriage lately?

They went to their normal training ground by the memorial and Kakashi claimed that they were going to spar, then quickly pulled out his orange book while they picked their partners.

"Sasuke-teme! Today is the day you will be defeated by the great Uzumaki…" but he was cut off yet again, when Sasuke merely replied-

"Sakura be my partner today." Naruto looked shocked, and Kakashi even looked up from his book. Sasuke would never train with Sakura, even though she had gotten stronger, he would just normally fight with Naruto because he lasted longer then Sakura.

"You sure?" Sakura questioned as her face turned from carefree to concentrated.

"I wouldn't have said so If I wasn't." Sasuke stated while slowly walking away waiting for Sakura to follow, which of course she did.

"We can talk while we spar, and try to keep up." Sasuke said getting into his fighting stance while Sakura ran at him.

"What did you want to talk about?" Sakura asked dodging his fist and catching his foot while trying to avoid an attack straight to her mid section, but failing miserably.

"Move to the Uchiha complex." Was all Sasuke said while doing a quick set of hand seals for his favourite jutsu.

"Katon: Ryukka No Jutsu."

Sakura was still in shock from what he had just said that she was almost hit dead on by the fire attack.

"Do What!" Sakura asked appearing behind him after using the kawamari no jutsu.

"I don't like to repeat myself." he replied throwing some kunai in her direction, while he went in for an attack from behind.

"You serious? Wait, sorry." Sakura remembered what he said before when she asked if he was sure when he told her that they were going to spar. Obviously, this was the reason why he told her to be his partner- he was in his element and while fighting, it was easier for him to say it.

_Grr everything is happening so fast, change is good but not all at once._

Back flipping a couple of times, Sakura squatted in her ready position and waiting for an attack from Sasuke. She could see a small pattern, attack, attack, back up, and do something with the legs. Attacking forward while he was backing up, her fist skimmed his shoulder as he attempted to evade.

_This is a once in a lifetime offer from Sasuke-kun though, I don't honestly think that he would say it again, but I don't want to leave home just yet._

"Sasuke-kun, I...ugh." She said as she was hit in the side and stumbled a bit. She was in a battle, how could she let her guard down? It was foolish of her.

"Can I stay in my house for maybe a year or two more. I think that I'm still…" This was her chance, she saw a quick change in his face, grabbing his fist she flung it to the side, while flipping over his other hand and kicking him in the chest. He slid back from the force of her kick before turning and running up a tree to maintain momentum. He bit the inside flesh of his lip trying to keep concentration on this fight.

"If that's what you want."

The fight resumed until Sakura was getting low on chakra and called it quits, and they all headed to Ichikaru, minus Kakashi-sensei who said he had other things to do.

"One miso please." Sakura ordered and sat down between Naruto and Sasuke.

_You wouldn't have to deal with this awkwardness with Sasuke if you had just chosen Itachi._

But Sakura shook that thought from her head because if she was with Itachi then things would be worse with Sasuke, because she choose his evil brother that he wanted to kill. Yup, things could be a lot worse, but somehow she wanted that. But her mind was cleared when three large bowls of steaming ramen were placed down in front of them.

"Itadakimasu."

Here they were again as always, standing in front of Tsunade with Naruto complaining about the missions we've be receiving, well not that they were complaining because it was true all of them had been D-ranked.

"Fine Naruto if it will shut you up, I have just received a mission from the village hidden in the pine. It's C-ranked and not a bad one either, your mission is to get the daimyo's daughter back and a scroll that she had with her, that is highly valuable."

"THANK YOU TSUNADE-BAA-CHAN YOU WON'T REGRET IT!" Naruto yelled, deafening all of them.

"I better not." She replied waving them out. Once they had exited the building Kakashi told them that they had an hour to pack and to meet up by the gate for their departure, they all nodded. Both Naruto and Sakura gave him a glare signaling that he was supposed to be there in an hour as well, but since it was Kakashi they knew it wouldn't happen.

And here they were, an hour later standing in front of the gate waiting for their missing sensei.

"I wish he would at least be on time for missions" Sakura sighed as she leaned against the gate. Sure Kakashi was an excellent ninja but that barely made up for the fact that he was always late. Where had it come from? It didn't really matter since Kakashi showed up then with the familiar 'Yo!' And they departed for their mission.

The village of pine was near the border of fire country and would take about one and a half days to get their going at their present pace. Sure they could have gone faster, and the trip could have been quieter but they got their none the less and all in one piece too!

After learning that the princess had been stolen by a group of dropout chuunins, the mission was rather easy for the trio and their sensei since they had all been training hard and they where all chuunin level, some maybe higher. The mission was done with by the end of the second day there in the village. Since they had plenty of time they decided to depart the day after, or the fourth day. But enough of the mission, since it's over and not important, lets deal with Sakura's situation with Sasuke.

Currently, nothing had really happened. Sakura and Sasuke had gone on one date to a café and had done nothing else much. Of course, with all that they had done, Naruto still had no clue of what was happening, but something tells him that the perverted man who hides behind his book knows something. Hiding behind his book as always, he just sat by and observed how this will progress.

"Sasuke-kun do you want to look at the village with me?" Sakura asked trying to get some alone time with him. She had to try since she knew that the solitary man in front of her would never ask or even think of it.

"Hn." he stuffed his hands in his pockets and shaking his head.

"Alright then, I guess it's really not that interesting anyway." Sakura smiled, but it was obviously a fake one trying to make things look alright on the outside while inside she was feeling different.

"I'll go with you Sakura-chan!" Naruto said wanting to view the village, but the only response he got was a hit in the head saying that she didn't want to go with him. She knew it was mean, but hitting him had become like a second reflex to her.

Somehow this didn't feel right, but then again, what did she imagine her life with Sasuke would be? Did she honestly think that she could melt his cold heart and save him? She was just a teammate, something convenient. That thought kept running through her head, though each time she would dismiss it, reminding herself of the time when he told her that he liked her. It would be impossible for him to say that if he didn't feel the same way, right? But nothing was different, nothing had changed and that excuse was old now ever since she had time to think of so many loopholes with her situation. Clenching her fists she smiled and started walking towards the village saying she was just going to visit the princess to see how she was. A watchful eye was glancing in her direction, worry was evident in that eye, but it turned back to the pages before him. Sakura would be alright, she was had trained hard to prove herself and he was proud of her.

Wandering towards the village, she passed right through and went straight to forest that surrounded the area. Was that little voice in her head correct, would her life have been better if she had chosen Itachi? Nonsense, he was a criminal and she would probably be dead once Sasuke was out of reach. But alas, it was too late now, and she couldn't search Itachi out and tell him she changed her mind. Hopeless. That was the word that came to her mind in describing her situation. Wait. She felt a chakra, just for a split of a second but it was there. She knew this chakra.

"Itachi?" She questioned reaching into her pouch to draw a kunai.

"Since when did I give you permission to call me so casually?" The smooth voice said from behind her. Twirling around, Sakura looked into the direction she had heard his voice but he wasn't there. She felt a pang of disappointment in her heart, until she felt his warm breath on her ear.

"Hello again Sakura." Her heart felt like it had stopped for those quick seconds that she felt him near her, and she felt herself longing to be in his arms again. As she watched him appear in front of her she loosened her grip on the kunai, but still kept it out just in case the situation got ugly.

"How do you find you choice with my otouto?" Sakura froze. How was she supposed to answer this? Sure she could spout lies and say everything was fine and dandy but he would see through her, she always felt like he did with those pinwheel red eyes. But then again she also couldn't say that she hated it, he would probably smirk at her and tell her something like what did you expect? Finally, finding a decent choice of words Sakura looked at his face but she faltered, the words were stuck in her throat.

He arched one of his delicate eyebrows as he looked at her, waiting for an answer, but he already knew what she was thinking.

"Things are going fine, we we're just taking our time." She finally said, her voice not as steady as she had wanted it to be.

"Is that so?" He watched as she looked to the ground again, those long pink strands covering her face. Her hand that was barely holding the kunai was shaking, her grip on the weapon tightened before she let it drop to the ground.

"No. Things aren't alright." She sputtered out as she looked at him her eyes glossy she was obviously trying to hold back tears in an internal struggle she was having with herself.

"I thought things would get better after he told me he loved me. But now he seems even further away. Even though he is standing right next to me, he feels beyond my reach. I thought that I could help him, melt his cold heart, but it appears not." She looked up to the sky as a tear finally escaped cascading down her pale cheek.

"I guess I was thinking too much and I over looked one main thing. It's Sasuke, he will always be cold, even if he kills you, people don't change. I-I didn't want to betray the village, that is one of the reasons I chose him, but I don't know if it was worth it anymore." Finally her emerald irises met his and the image before him almost made him want take a picture. They would always paint pictures of angels, but this was a sad angel a once in a life time thing, and he never wanted to see her like this again.

"People do change Sakura, it's usually so small that it's barely noticeable to the outside world, but to the person, it feels like a drastic change. I've changed." Itachi said never breaking eye contact with her. Her knees gave out as her entire body felt weak, but she never hit the hard ground under her, as two strong hands caught her and held her securely. These were the arms of the man she loved, and somehow she would make it up to him, she wanted to be with him, no matter what it took, she could make it work.

"I love you, Itachi." She whispered it wasn't loud but he heard it. Her knuckles turned white from gripping his cloak tightly, she didn't want to let him go, Sakura felt like this was her only chance to make amends, and she wouldn't let it pass her by.

He didn't reply to her answer, she knew he couldn't, it was the type of man he was. From the way he was still embracing her and holding her tightly, she knew that he at least felt some sort of love towards her. Looking down at her he gently grabbed her chin and tilted it up to meet his gaze.

"Sakura..." he said as he watched her take off the ring that bound her to Sasuke. Her hand then went to his cheek and he brought his lips towards her's. She didn't have to think twice about this, about them like she did with Sasuke. She met his lips with her's in a passionate kiss. This felt right. There was no questions about it, and as he lifted her up in his arms and took her away, not once did she think that he would hurt her or that things wouldn't turn out right. She smiled at him, wiping the tears from her eyes, and let him take her away. They could make it work, even if he was a missing nin and she, a ninja of Konoha. They could make it work.

_Misekake no jibun wa sotto sutete tada arinomama de…_

Not all arranged marriages are bad, some actually do turn out well, and from the looks of this one, they might just make it.

-Misekake no jibun wa sotto sutete tada arinomama de Gently throw away that mask you're wearing and just be who you are now (disillusion – fate/stay night OP)

The End

Woot this is longer then my Leave a Light on Fanfic, which is dedicated to Sasu/Saku because I feel sorry for him, in all my fics he just doesn't seem to win. Poor Sasuke. Hope you Review, because I lie and say it gives me brilliant story ideas.


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